My fiance and I have started going to the gym for weight training. She has gotten on Weight Watchers and is very excited about her progress. I am a little worried that she is not getting the nutrients required to support a weight training program. It's hard for me to broach the subject of her diet, and I don't want to de-motivate her. I am not talking about novice weight training, as I fully anticipate getting into a fairly rigorous program (I have quite a bit of experience... not hardcore body-building). Does anyone have any experience/advice for this? Thx...

From what I know about weight watcher's, it works on a point system (and from what I've seen, it seems to work very well, and has a group support system). As long as she gets adequate protein and gets the rest of her points from the right places - mainly fruits and veg, some whole grains and legumes, limits other starches and sweets, she should be fine even with the weight training. On the morning Today Show, there is an every Monday morning feature called the Joy Fit Club, sponsored by Doctor Joy Bauer, and you have to have lost at least 100 lbs to be inducte. Most of the gals I've seen have gone w/weight watchers, mostly because of the group support, and DO toss the weights around. I'd just be supportive of her, and guide her if necessary, or more importantly, if she asks for guidance getting the weights mixed in.
Tim

Thanks Tim...
When using 1.14 grams of protein for each lb of lean mass... She would have to consume ~ 30 grams of protein per meal. That's 600 calories of protein per day. That is going to be difficult for her to swallow (pun intended)... Perhaps I should wait until weight loss has occurred before I recommend the amount of protein it would require to mantain muscle growth...? She's extremely touchy about the weight subject, and I want to support her without being overbearing.

OK, now you're getting into an area where a lot of even the guru's disagree on. What constitutes "adequate protein"? While I think the USRDA is way low, I think you're 1.14 gr/lb bodyweight is way high. You say she's trying to loose weight. OK.Now you have to take into considertion % bodyfat. A lot of the sports nutitionists base it on LBM rather than actual BWT. Dr. Sears of the Zone, who promotes protein, even gauges it at between 0.6 gr /lb LBM for a couch potate to 0.8 gr / lb LBM for a very active athlete, which would put your wife's weight lifting/cardio somewhere in the middle. I'd hold off trying to gauge anything unless you think she's going way too low.
Tim

Weight Watchers is pretty bad in my opinion. It is all about cutting calories and being able to eat ANYTHING you want. They have a very simplistic, eat less and exercise more philosophy. They don't take into account exercise type or what you eat. The diet makes you hungry more than anything. Take a look at the stickies to put together a proper diet. They lean a bit to the low fat side too.

Yes, it's about points, yes it's about cutting calries, but if you're informe, and know what to choose, it can work. With her husband to guide her, and going using something like this site's nutrition guidelines or Berardi's 7 habits to help her make choices geared to weightlifting, I'm sure the two can be compatible.
Tim

ironmaiden708 wrote:My dad did weight watchers w/ great success before. But for some reason gained all the weight back. Not sure if age related or because of the diet approach.

In some cases, long term habits are not reinforced or sustained. Dieting is a learning and habit forming experience. Unless habits are formed that help the individual sustain a diet for the long run it will always lead to a rebound. With weight watchers, the point counting and followup is the key to that habit forming. The work is not over once the weight is gone. The hardest part comes next and that's eating right even when you don't think you need to.

I will have to say that I scratched my head when I saw the point system... You enter calories, fat grams and and fiber grams. Hmmm... What about protein versus carbs? What if something had 150 calories with zero fat and zero fiber? And zero protein??? Well, we all know what that means! Is that really healthy and conducive to fat burning/weight training? I agree that if someone sensibly adheres to the point system, then it can work, but simply relying on the point system itself would be a mistake.

That's is the problem, but it shouldn't be one for you and your wife. You're armed with that knowledge, and can tactfully nudge her in the right direction, keeping the two compatible, and your marriage stays happy, LOL, just keep it tactful, and she gets to keep her support system,
Tim

ironmaiden708 wrote:My dad did weight watchers w/ great success before. But for some reason gained all the weight back. Not sure if age related or because of the diet approach.

It is because weight watchers killed his metabolism, so he gained it back. That is what happens. It happened to me more than once. extreme calorie cutting for the purpose of being able to eat anything you want and still lose weight tends to do that.

It is because weight watchers killed his metabolism, so he gained it back. That is what happens. It happened to me more than once. extreme calorie cutting for the purpose of being able to eat anything you want and still lose weight tends to do that.

While I agree that extreme caloie deprivation can ruin a metabolism, I don't think that will happen with weight watcher's. Or most of the others. I like the "Zone" in their proportions, but it's basically a colorie deprivation thing if followed to the letter, where protein requirements based on LBM dictate F and P, no matter what types. I like broader guidelines, that can easily be followed, that wil give good nutrition, while akkowing you to adjust calorie levels to either increase or decrease bodymass. That said, I've seen just too many gals and guys show up on NBC's Joy Fit Club with over 100 lb weight losses, that are graduates of Weight Watcher's, but express ideas based on "cutting Starch" and excess calories.
Tim